


65 BPM

by Broken_Clover



Category: Guilty Gear
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Between Episodes, Canon Rewrite, F/M, Gift Fic, Overture was a bad time in Kys life, because that was hot garbage, its just the family reunion scene though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:29:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25370914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Broken_Clover/pseuds/Broken_Clover
Summary: Dizzy reflects on a lazy Sunday morning
Relationships: Dizzy/Ky Kiske
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	65 BPM

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rex101111](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rex101111/gifts).



> Well, this was _supposed_ to be a lighthearted fic for Rex since he seems like he could have used a bit of cheering up, but not only did this take forever but it ended up being kind of angsty. Erm, sorry about that. I can give it another go if you want?

Ky always preferred keeping the curtains partly drawn when he went to bed. He had an alarm set for the morning, but he said that he preferred having the sun help him awake, with the light and heat streaming in to help him get energized and ready for the day.

Dizzy reached across the bed to undo the loose tie holding the curtains open, letting them fan back out in front of the window. Only a few small slats of light streamed through the cracks, which she used to lean back over and switch off the alarm, five minutes before it was set to ring.

With that much settled, she laid back down in the warmth. Ky was still completely asleep, snoozing away in blissful ignorance. Even on a Sunday, he tried to wake up early and prompt. Underhanded or not, Dizzy knew he could use an extra smidgen of sleep, or maybe even more. The world wouldn’t explode if he slept in a little on a Sunday.

One of the sparse streams of light painted a line across her husband’s chest. Dizzy reached over again to tug it closed. She let her hand rest gently on the space where it had been, fingers pressed against a triangle of bare skin exposed by his rumpled nightshirt.

_Tmp. Tmp. Tmp. Tmp._

A calm, steady rhythm pulsed against her fingertips. Dizzy curled up closer, so she could put her ear against him. The sure beat of his heart put her at ease. Some part of her knew that it was silly to still worry after so long, but there was forever a little titch of anxiety deep in her that could only be quelled by Ky’s warmth and the feeling of a pulse under his skin. The reminder that he was safe. That he was alright.

Ky hadn’t been alright, not for a long while.

They had used to sleep just like they did now, but in a small cottage, sitting on the edge of a quiet French city, with honeysuckle vines spidering down the trellis in the back garden. A quiet life, but it had to be, for her sake. Living deeper in the city’s heart would have made for an easier commute to the IPF office Ky worked at, but it would have left her cooped up and miserable all day, not allowed to go out in fear of someone panicking at the sight of a Gear. That was how Ky was, always making sure she was cared for before worrying about himself. He gave her everything she could have needed, from the simple but delicious meals they shared every night to the quiet little garden that she could tend to and care for however she desired. 

It was so picturesque, she supposed it had to end badly. Ky had been too rattled to properly explain what had happened on that awful day, before either of them could have possibly known where they would end up. It had seemed like a perfectly normal day at the office, but he’d come home almost an hour early, deathly pale and shaking. It took forever to get any sort of information out of him. Their lives were in danger, hers especially, unless he enrolled in the upcoming Illyrian election. She hadn’t realized just how severe the situation was until he was ankle-deep in the campaign, forced into nonstop political meetings that he didn’t even care about but had to put his whole heart into in order to make a convincing display. It was all so pointless, if it really was to be a forged election with the ultimate outcome already decided, Dizzy hardly understood why he was forced into a whole song-and-dance, but she knew he was only doing it to ensure her safety.

They hadn’t even found it in them to celebrate when the election was finally over. Ky put on a gracious smile for the journalists, of course, but he had been in no mood for the cake she had made as some sort of pittance. He hadn’t held on to enough energy to do more than curl up in bed with her.

And somehow, it only continued to get worse from there.

Ky had been running himself ragged for months, but this was something else entirely. 15-hour workdays at a minimum, meeting after meeting after meeting, legislation and bills and a million pieces of paper flying around, and all of them demanded his undivided attention. The castle they moved into was massive, even when unfinished, but it only meant more places for Ky to have to run to to drop off paperwork or attend a conference. It also meant plenty of places for Dizzy to explore while she waited the day away for him to be finished. But whenever he was, she was taken aback at how exhausted and worn-down he looked, looking more and more browbeaten every day.

It wasn’t even just how he looked and talked, she could _feel_ how the overwork had slowly begun killing him. She knew his individual scent and heat signature by heart, but it had warped and twisted until he was practically a stranger. And in the few times where they were still able to be intimate, she found skin and bone where there had been muscles and soft thighs. No matter how many blankets he put on or the number of layers he wore during the day, the constant shivering was a sign he couldn’t hold onto enough body heat. What few instincts Dizzy had programmed into her screamed that her mate needed warming, and it took all her willpower to not throw herself at him and wrap her wings around his body until he was healthier, but as powerful as she was, she couldn’t stop the world from needing Ky almost constantly.

There was only so much she could do, but by god, she did her best on the few things she could. Dizzy kept him warm at night, wrapping herself around him as hard as possible without injuring him outright. The position of it pressed her cheek directly into his chest, where she listened to his pulse start and stop like a broken metronome, in rapid, fluttery beats and low thuds so far apart there were times when she needed to rouse him just to make sure he hadn’t died in his sleep.

It became more difficult to do once she’d gotten pregnant, but she never stopped. It was a small drop of comfort in both of their lives, and she wouldn’t have given it up unless it was absolutely necessary. On the quiet nights, when it was just the three of them under the covers, snuggling together in a dark room, it almost felt like nothing was wrong.

Ky was in a meeting when Sin was born. It had just been her and Dr. Faust there. The doctor was a kind man, and she could never thank him enough for his help, but there was an aching emptiness, holding her son for the first time without Ky being with her.

Raising a child certainly helped with all the waiting, but the longer it went on, the more ways it began to hurt more. Sin, bless him, was too young to understand his situation, no matter how she tried to explain it. Illyria was flourishing, but at the cost of Ky coming home less and less. He utterly _adored_ Sin, but the child saw his father as a complete stranger. Maybe it was just his appearance that frightened him- Ky was practically a walking skeleton, no matter how much his elaborate robes tried to hide it. The deep shadows in his sunken cheeks and the sickly paleness to his skin were impossible to miss, so how did nobody else but her seem to care? Were they really so desperate for his leadership that they’d gladly let Ky work himself to death over it? How could his rival not even see it? Sol had barely hesitated to challenge her husband to a duel, and either not noticed or not cared about the way his hands trembled as he drew his old sword, unused to its weight and struggling enough with the weight of the pens and paper he carried around all day. Ky was _sick,_ what did it have to take for anyone to say anything?

Selfish as it was, there were times when Dizzy felt as though she was the only person who genuinely cared for him. Could she even say that when she wasn’t doing anything to help? But what was there even for her to do? Her existence was still a closely-guarded secret. She had no legal rights. She couldn’t make herself known to anyone in the political cabinet, lest they immediately try to kill her. All she could offer were paltry reassurances, and the comfort of her body’s warmth as she listened to his fitful heart start and stop.

Dizzy was not a woman who was quick to anger, but she could feel herself growing furious with everyone around her, even Ky himself. While he was dying right in front of her, he only ever worried about everyone else. About the people of Illyria, who he did his best to serve and look over with their best interests in mind, about Sin, painful as it was to give their only child to Sol, but they knew he would be safest there (even if Ky was utterly inconsolable the night after, shaking so hard with tears she swore she could hear his bones rattling), and about her; after all, she was the reason he was there in the first place. Yet still for all his kindness to others, she was the only one looking after him in turn.

When she’d felt that unearthly buzz under her skin, like her blood was turning into pure fire, Dizzy hadn’t been able to stop herself from worrying about him still. When she realized she was fading away, all she could worry about was what would happen to Ky. She could still see when frozen away with the Thunderseal. She watched him collapse, sobbing right in front of her. She was still alive, but the one thing she wanted to do, she couldn’t. She couldn’t assure him she was alright, and hold him in her arms until his tears stopped. All she could do was watch.

Things were spotty after that. Ky came and went, at one point coming back with a few new, strange faces and ones that were more familiar. Seeing Sin again was a reassurance, though she wished she could have given him a stern talking-to when he ran off like that. There wasn’t much to do in her state aside from watching helplessly or drifting off into a dreamlike haze. Despite herself, and the worry she felt for Ky, the latter became easier and easier to do, until it was nearly all she did. Just spending the day floating, with a rare lucid thought between hours of empty calm. She was so used to the numbness of it that it was a cold shock when all the feelings in the world suddenly grew a hundred times more intense, and her limp, unused body was lowered to the ground.

“What…?” Her voice was raspy from disuse, and her body was stiff, but everything was still in place. She’d crawled onto her hands and knees, trying to adjust to how loud and bright everything suddenly was.

The strange green man that she had seen once before was standing in front of her, nodding in affirmation. “It seems the stabilization was a success. Welcome back to the world, miss.”

She felt her face, just to hammer into her dazed mind that she was really there, that she was really free. The next thought came almost immediately after.

“Where’s Ky?”

The green man, Paradigm, led her out. The castle seemed so much bigger to her, but maybe it had just been too long to remember it right. The stone underfoot, the breeze, the smell of the sky and flowers and earth...all coming back to her, like it had never left.

Ky had been preoccupied when they’d entered. Sol looked practically the same as he unsheathed a long white sword from his belt and tossed it at the other man.

“Here, princey, y’get your toy back.”

And god, Ky...He was still far too skinny, but she couldn’t remember the last time his skin had looked so lively and his hands didn’t shake. He managed to catch the Thunderseal with a firm grip, though he looked rather confused.

“What? This is…” He trailed off, a look of realization crossing his features. “But if you have Thunderseal, then that means…”

It seemed like a good time to speak up. “Hello, dear.”

She couldn’t remember Ky ever running so fast. He’d dropped the priceless weapon like it was garbage and all but sprinted into her, wrapping his arms around her body in an intense grip and immediately sinking to his knees afterwards.

“Dizzy! Dizzy, oh my God…” He clung to her like she was moments away from vanishing again. “You’re here, you’re really back, I-I can’t believe it- !”

“Ky…” She held him gently, carding fingers through his hair and kissing the top of his head as his shoulders trembled. “It’s so good to see you again. I was so worried, I’m so happy…”

A young voice piped up nearby. “Man, you two sure missed each other, huh?”

Sin, her child, their beautiful baby boy. That was enough to finally get her to tear up, too. Ky was still too emotionally compromised to move, so she coaxed Sin over with an arm and pulled him down into their pile to give him a tight hug and to just feel them there, to feel that her family really was whole again.

It had been cut short, of course, there were bigger concerns they had at the moment. But that interruption had only lasted so long, and Ky seemed more than eager to be around her again. Something about him had changed, and she wasn’t sure what. He simply seemed more...alive. The light had come back into his voice. He stood with confidence. It wasn’t perfect, but it was still so much better.

Now, he had her to help him again, too. Reassurance, kindness, and warm dinners that they could sit down and eat together. Little by little, the changes grew more obvious, especially when they curled up together like they’d used to before. He was still mostly tempered and lean, but he’d gained a healthy bit of fat on his midsection and cheeks. His skin no longer strained like his ribs were too big. When she cuddled up with him, it wasn’t because it was the only way she could think of to keep him warm. Bedtime cuddles were also an excellent time to rest her head on his chest and listen to his heart, now beating steadily. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so happy.

She gave a gentle sigh, thumbing at a few flyaway bits of his hair. Ky moved under her touch, half-blinking like he wasn’t sure whether or not to fully be awake.

“Dizzy?” He asked. “‘s it time to get up?”

“Not yet.” She replied, leaning back to kiss him on the nose. “Go back to sleep, dear.”

In his still-tired state, he seemed in no mood to argue. “Mmmkay. Love you.”

Dizzy smiled, pressing her ear back against his chest. “Love you too, Ky.”


End file.
